Legalism is like a child going into a candy store with his mother, who then says he can choose one candy from among a limit of five specified different selections. There are definite boundaries. Freedom is like a child walking along by himself and discovering a $20 bill on the sidewalk outside the candy store. What’s he going to do? Try and find the owner who has lost the money? Go into the candy store and go hog wild?

Legalism can be quite comforting with its’ preset limits and defined boundaries. You don’t need to exercise much self-discipline. You don’t need to be very responsible; someone else is being partly responsible for you.

Freedom on the other hand can be very disconcerting. It can also tragically be disasterous if self-discipline is lacking. Unfortunately too many Christians fail to grasp this crucial principle: the greater our freedom, the greater our discipline must be. The more we grow in our freedom in Christ, the greater the self-control we must exercise.

A common misconception is that legalism requires great discipline; i.e., that the stronger the legalism is, the more discipline I must have. But that’s a fallacy. True freedom always requires much greater discipline than legalism ever requires.

Note the following scriptures (emphasis is mine) …

Proverbs 25:28: A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.

Galatians 5:22-23: But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Titus 2:2
Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have strong faith and be filled with love and patience.

1 Peter 1:13
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5,6
So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self- control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.

It’s essential to also grasp that discipline does NOT mean making more rules for oneself; it means assuming greater responsibility. In our contemporary culture, I see a lot of Christians who chafe at authority and claim a lifestyle of “freedom in Christ” when they really have nothing more than an undisciplined life. I see a lot of Christians who recoil at the slightest hint of legalism, but don’t take responsibility and have little/no self-control. That’s a surefire recipe for spiritual defeat and failure in life.

Freedom without responsibility and discipline is nothing more than license, which the New Testament strongly and repeatedly condemns. Think you’re free in Christ? Then your life must be characterized by discipline and self-control. Otherwise, you’re already defeated … and just don’t know it yet.

A life that is undisciplined is not free in Christ no matter how vociferously one may proclaim it; that person is still enslaved and just doesn’t realize it. If we truly and intimately know God - not just superficially - we will be responsible with the precious freedom that we have in Christ and live disciplined lives. (2 Pet 1:5-6)
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Bob Pratico
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
(my Sojourn blog)